Manure-spreader.



A. L. DUDLEY 8: J. J. SCHMIDT.

MANURE SPREADER. 7 APPLICATION FILED MAR. 28, 1914.

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A. L. DUDLEY & J. J. SCHMIDT.

MANURE SPREADER. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 28, 1914.

J SCHMIU T- Patented Aug. 25, 191* A. L. DUDLEY & J'. J. SCHMIDT. MANURESPREADER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 28, 1914.

Patente-"il Aug.25,1914,.

4 SHEETS-QHEET 3,

ammntoz 3 wi/imemo A. L.\DUDLBY & J. J. SCHMIDT.

MANURE SPREADER. APPLICATION IYILED MAR. 28, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4 Patented Aug. 25, 191i oiviTEn STATES PATENT oFFIoE.

ASA L. DUDLEY AND JOHN J. SCHMIDT, 0F GLENVILLE, NEBRASKA.

Minivan-SPRE DER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 25, 1914.

Application filed March 28, 1914. Serial No. 828,010.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, Asa L. DUDLEY and JoanJ. Scininrr, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Glenville, in thecounty This invention relates to an attachment for manure spreaders andsimilar machines and broadly stated, embodies certain improvedmechanical features whereby such machines may be employed for thedistribution or spreading of straw over the ground.

The invention has for its primary object to provide an attachment of theabove character embodying a follower, and means for intermittentlymoving the follower to forcibly feed the straw to the cylinder of thespreader.

The invention has for another object to provide an attachment for manurespreaders which may be easily and quickly mounted in place upon the bodyof the spreader, said attachment including. a follower for forciblyfeeding the straw to the spreader cylinder, mechanism for imparting aslow intermittent feeding travel to the follower and a comparativelyrapid reverse or forward movement thereof, and means automaticallyactuated at the end of the forward and rear travel of the follower torender said mechanism inoperative.

The invention has for a furtherobject to.

produce an attachment which may heap- .plied to various forms of manurespreaders now n common use without necessitating material alterationstherein, and which will satisfactorily and efficiently perform thefunctions for which the same is devised,-

without injury to the parts of the spreader mechanism or in any wayimpairing its con tinued usefulness.

Vith the above and other objects in view. .as will become apparent asthe description proceeds, the invention consists in certainconstructions, combinations and arrangements of the parts that we shallhereinafter fully describe and claim.

For a full understanding of the invention,

reference is to be had to the following descr1pt1on..and accompanyingdrawings, in which :Figure 1 is aside elevation showing our improvedstraw spreading attachment arranged upon a manure spreader; Fig. 2 is alongitudinal section thereof; Fig. 3 is a.

section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 1 is an enlarged elevationillustrating the reverse arrangement of the drive gearing for thefollower with respect to the arrangement shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is atransverse section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a sectiontaken on the line 66 of Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a detail section illustratingthe trip device.

Referring in detail to the drawings, 5 designates the body of a manurespreader, which is mounted in any suitable man nerat its front and rearends upon the supporting wheels 6 and 7 respectively.

8 designates the spreading or distributing roller which is mounted inthe rearwardly and upwardly inclined arms 9 fixed to the body of thespreader and is driven through the medium of a chain 10 from the rearwheel axle.

Our improved straw spreading attachment includes a suitable hopper orrack for the straw consisting of side walls 11 which have lower inwardlyinclined portions 12 secured to opposite edges of a bottom or floor 13.To the side walls 11 a vertically disposed series of strap bars 14 aresecured which are adapted to be received in spaced sleeves or cuffs 15secured to the side walls of the spreader body 5. To the rear ends ofthe side walls 11 of the straw receiving rack or hopper, longitudinallyextending rearwardly projectin bars 16 are secured. The comparativelyshort longitudinal bars 17 are a so secured to the side walls 11 abovethe bars 16. Upon the inner sides of the walls 11, longitudinallyextending rails or cleats 18 are provided for the support of a follower19. This follower is longitudinally movable between the side walls ofthe hopper or straw rack to forcibly feed the straw to the distributingor spreading roller 8 in a manner which will be fully pointed out in thefollowing description.

In suitable bearings mounted upon the upper edges of the rearwardlyextending bars 16, the ends ofa beater shaft 20 am journaled. This shaftis provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending blades 21 whichare adapted to engage upon the straw and beat or force the samedownwardly upon the teeth of the rotating spreader cylinder 8. Therotating blades 21 are covered by means of the shield plate 21'. saidplate preventing the material being thrown upwardly and rearwardly bythe blades in their rotation. Upon one end. of the shaft. 20, a sprocketwheel 22 is loosely mounted and is connected by an endless drive chain:23 with a similar sprocket wheel 2-! carried by one of the rearsupporting wheels 7. A clutch member 25 is l eyed upon the beater shaft90 for engagement with clutch teeth prodded upon the sprocket wheelwhereby said wheel may be locked to the beater shaft. This slidingclutch member is actuated through. the medium of a lever 26 fulcrumedupon the bar 17 and connected by the rod 27 to a lever which is mountedupon one of the side walls 11 of the straw rack or hopper at its forwardend. This lever is provided with the usual spring pressed dog forengagement with the teeth of a rack segment 29. An additional smallersprocket wheel 30 is also fixed upon the end of the beater shaft 20 andis connected by means of a sprocket chain 31 to a sprocket wheel 32which is journaled upon a stul.v

shaft 33 fixed in a vertically movable plate 34-. One face of thissprocket wheel is provided with a gear 35 for engagement with'a gearwheel. 36 journaled upon the end of a stub shaft 37 which is suitablymounted upon one of the side walls 11. The plate '34 is provided with anelongated longitudinal slot 38 for the accommodation of this lattershaft. The upper and lower ends of this plate are also provided withslots 39 through which stud bolts 40, fixed in' the side wall 11 of thehoppcnpro iect. The gear wheel 36 meshes with the teeth of a pinion 41which is secured to or integrally formed with a sprocket wheel 42, saidsprocket wheel being journaled upon a stub shaft i3 secured .in the wall11. This sprocket wheel is tra.v-- ersedby the chain 4 1 which extendsaround a similar sprocket wheel 45 fixed. upon one end ofa transverseshaft 4-6 journaled at its ends in supporting members 47 secured to therearwa-rdly extending bars 16.

48 indicates a tensioning pinion for the chain which is engaged with onestretch thereof.

Upon the shaft 46 adjacent its opposite ends, sprocket pinions 49 arefixed. These pinions are connected by means of the end less chains 50 tosimilar sprocket pinions 51 which are rotatably mounted upon the bracketarms 52 secured to the rear ends of the longitudinal rails or cleats 18fThe, follower 19 above referred to is preferably in the form of aplurality of parallel bars 53 extending transversely betweenithe sidewalls 11 and connected by a series of bars'54. The upper bar 53 at itsends is suitably secured to the upper stretches of the respectivechains'50, so that the same is moved by said chains between the sidewalls 11. The front ends of these side walls are connected by means of atransverse rod To the rear edge of the vertically movable plate 3-], arod 56 is rigidly secured, the

ends of said rod being horizontally disposed and the intermediateportion thereof extend ing in parallel relation to the plate 34. i lever57 is pivctally mounted intermediate of its ends as at 58 upon thevertical portion of the rod 56. lever, one end of a dog or pawl 59 isfulcrunied, the other end thereof being disposed below the gear 36 andadapted for engagementwith the teeth thereof. This dog is adapted tomove vertically in a guide loop 60 which is secured upon the rod 56. Theupper end of the lever 57 is pivotally connected to a pitman 61, theother end of said pitman being eccentrically connected to the sprocketwheel 32.

6:. indicates a substantially U shaped bar, one arm of which ispivotally connected at its upper end as at 63 to the upper portion ofthe horizontal rod 56. The opposed arm of this U shaped lever isfulcrumed at its lower end as indicated at 64: upon the side wall 11 ofthe straw rack or hopper. The rear end of a longitudinally extending rod65 is pivotally connected to the upper end of this latter arm of thelever 62 and is pivotally connected adjacent its forward end to a. lever66. The lower end of this lever is fulcrumed as at 67 upon the side wall11 of the hopper and carries a spring pressed friction block forengagementwith the upper edge of a curved bar 68. At the opposite endsof the rod 65, the same 1s provided with the .trip fingers 69, whichproject through slots 69 in the side wall 11 and are disposed in thepath of movement of the upper bar of the follower 19. To the upperhorizontal portion of the bar 56, one end of a chain 70 is attached. Tothe lower end of this chain, a. coil spring 71 is connected, said springbeing secured to the pawl 59 intermediate. of its ends, and serving tonormally hold said pawl against the gear wheel 36 in the movement of thelever 57. The spreader is of course provided at its rear end with theusual rake 7 2 through the tines of which the straw is drawn by theteeth upon the rotating cylinder 8.

In the lower end of this Having now fully described theco'nstrncsprocket wheel43 rot-ates the rear transverse shaft. 46, asindicated by the arrows'in Fig.

v1. In this manner, it will be seen that a step by step or intermittentlongitudinal movement is imparted to the chains 50, the follower 19 ofcourse being correspondingly moved from the front to the rear end of therack or hopper containing the straw. The

straw is thus forcibly fed to the beater blades 21 and by said bladesdirected to the rotating toothed cylinder 8, said cylinder drawing thestraw between the tines of the rake 72 and spreading the same upon theground as will be readily understood. \Vhen the follower 19 reaches theend of its rearward movement, the upper bar 53 thereof will engage th tip finger G9 on the rear end of the rod 65, and move said rod rearwardlyto a sufiicient extent to lower the plate and dispose the pawl 59 out ofengagement with the teeth of the gear 36, the lever. 66 being moved to asubstantially central vertical position upon the curved bar 68. When itis desired to move the follower to the forward end of the straw hopper,the operator simply shifts the lever 66 rearwardly, thus forcing theplate 34. downwardly to a further extent and engaging the teeth of thegear 33 with the teeth of the gear 36. The gear 33 being ro tated by thechain 31, it will be obvious that the direction of rotation of the gear36 is reversed, and a continuous movement from the rearto the front endof the rack or hopper imparted to the follower by means of the mechanismabove described. When the follower again reaches the forward end of itstravel, it engages the tripfingeronthe forward end of the rod 65 andshifts saidrod so as to return the lever 66 to its vertical position andrender the operating mechanism inoperative- -When the lever 66' .15again shifted forwardly, it will be understood that the intermittentrearward movement of the-follower is repeated to forcibly feed'the strawto the distributing mecha msm.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, the construction, manner of operation and several advantagesof our invention will be clearly and fully understood. As the de viceconsists of but comparatively few parts,

it will be appreciated that the same is light in weight and may bereadily lifted into positon upon the body of the spreader.

The adoption of our improved straw spreading mechanism will require nomaterial alterations in the construction of the spreader or prevent itssubsequent use for spreading of manure or fertilizer. By thecomparatively rapid continuous forward movement of the follower afterthe straw has been completely discharged from the rack or hopper, itwill be apparent that it is i only necessary for the machine to moveforwardly a few feet. Thus but a comparatively restricted portion of theground surface will be uncovered by straw, in the movement of themachine across a field. It will further be manifest that by means of ourinvention we have materially increased the utility of the ordinarymanure spreaderso that the same will satisfactorily perform twoimportant purposes.

Our improved straw feeding and distributing mechanism beingcomparatively simple in its construction, may be produced at smallmanufacturing cost and is also highly durable aswell as efiicient inpractical op eration.

\Vhile we have shown and described the preferred construction andarrangement of the several elements, it is to be understood that theinvention is susceptible of considerable modification therein and wetherefore reserve the privilege of resorting to all such legitimatechanges as may be fairly em; bodied within the spirit-and scope of theinvention as claimed. I

Having thus described the inventioinwhat is claimed is: v

1.- The combination with a manure.

spreader provided with a distributing cylinder, of a hopper adapted tobe mounted upon the body of the spreader, .endless chains mounted uponthe side walls of the hopper, a follower secured-lo the uppenllostretches of said chains, and means for operating said chains to impartan intermittent rearward movement to the follower to forcibly feed thematerial to the distribut ing cylinder. V i E2. The combination; with amanure spreader provided with-a distributing cylinder, of a hopperadapted to be mounted upon the body .of the spreader,- endless chainsmounted upon the side wallsof the 120 hopper, a follower secured to theupper stretches of said chains, means for operating said chains toimpart an intermittent rearward movement to the follower to forciblyfeed the material to the distributing 125 cylinder, and a trip. deviceactuated by the follower at the end of its rearward movement torendersaid' chain operating means inoperative.

3. The combination with a manure 1 30 spreader provided with adistributing cylinder, of a hopper adapted to be mounted upon the bodyof the spreader, endless chains mounted upon the side walls of thehopper, a follower secured to the upper stretches of said chains, meansfor operating said chains to impart an intermittent rearward movement tothe follower to forcibly feed the material to the distributing cylinder,a trip device actuated by the follower at the end of its rearwardmovement to render said chain operating means inoperative, and manuallyoperable means to further actuate the trip device whereby the movementof the follower is reversed by said operating means.

4. The combination with a manure spreader provided with a distributingcylinder, of a hopper adapted to be mounted upon the body of thespreader, endless chains mounted upon the side walls of the hopper, afollower secured to the upper stretches of said chains, means foroperating said chains to impart an intermittent rearward movement to thefollower to forcibly feed the material to the distributing cylinder, atrip device actuated by the follower at the end of its rearward movementto render said chain operating means inoperative, and manually operablemeans to further actuate said trip device whereby the movement of thefollower is reversed and an uninterrupted forward movement impartedthereto by the operating means.

5. The combination with amanure spreader provided with a distributingcylinder, of a hopper adapted to be removably mounted upon the body ofthe spreader. endless chains mounted upon the side Walls of said hopper,a follower secured to the upper stretches of said chains, gea-ring'fordriving said chains including a power transmission gear, a shiftabledriven gear adapted to engage said transmission gear, means actuated inthe rotation of the driven gear to impart an intermittent rotarymovement to the transmission gear in one direction,

- whereby the follower is intermittently moved rearwardly in the hopperto feed the material to the distributing roller, and manually operablemeans to shift said driven gear and said means whereby said means isdisengaged from the transmission gear and the driven gear is engagedwith the transmission gear and the direction of rotation of the latterreversed, to move the follower forwardly in the hopper.

6. The combination with a manure spreader provided with a distributingcylinder, of a hopper adapted to be removably mounted upon the bodyv ofthe spreader, endless chains mounted upon the side walls of said hopper,a follower secured to the upper stretches of said chains, gearing fordriving said chains including a power transmission gear, a shiftabledriven gear adapted to engage said transmission gear, means actuated inthe rotation of the driven gear to impart an intermittent rotarymovement to the transmission gear in one direction, whereby the followeris intermittently moved rearwardly in the hopper to feed the material tothe distributing roller, manually operable means to shift said drivengear and said means whereby the gear is engaged with the transmissiongear and the direction of rotation of the latter reversed, to move thefollower forwardly in the hopper, and means actuated by the follower atthe end of its' movement in each direction to shift said driven gear andthe means actuated thereby and move the same out of cooperativeengagement with the transmission gear.

' 7. The combination with a manure spreader provided with a distributingcylinder, of a hopper adapted to be removably mounted upon the body ofthe spreader, endless chains mounted upon the side walls of said hopper,a follower secured to the upper stretches of said chains, gearing fordriving said chains including a power transmission gear, a shiftabledriven gear adapted to engage said transmission gear, means actuated inthe rotation of the driven gear to impart an intermittent rotarymovement to the transmission gear in one direction, whereby the followeris intermittently moved rearwardly in the hopper to feed the material tothe distributing roller, manually operable means to shift said drivengear and said means whereby the gear is engaged with the transmissiongear and the direction of rotation thereof reversed, to move thefollower forwardly in the hopper, means actuated by the follower at theend of its movement in each direction to shift said driven gear and themeans actuated thereby and move the same out of cooperative engagementwith the transmission gear, and manually operable means for furthershifting said driven gear and said means to alternately engage the samewith the transmission gear and reverse the movement of the follower.

8. The combination with a manure spreader provided with a distributingcylinder, of a hopper adapted to be removably mounted upon the body ofthe spreader, chains mounted upon the side walls of said hopper, afollower secured to the upper stretches of said chains, gearing drivenfrom one of the wheel axles for operating said chains, said gearingincluding a trzinsmission gear, a shlftable plate, a driven gear-mountedupon said plate on one side of the transmission follower for shiftingthe plate in relatively opposite directions at the end of its travel inopposite directions to disengage the gear and pawl from the transmissiongear and stop the movement of the follower, and additional means formanually operating said last named means and 'further shift said plateto engage the driven gear or the pawl with the transn'iission gear andreverse the movement of the follower.

9. The combination with a manure spreader provided with a distributingcylinder, of a hopper adapted to be rernovably' mounted upon the body ofthe spreader, endless chains mounted upon the side walls of the hopper,a follower secured to the upper stretches of said chains, gearing drivenfrom one of the wheel axles of the spreader for operating said chains,said gearing including a power transmission gear, a shiftable member,mean mounted upon said member for imparting an intermittent rotarymovement to the transmission gear in one direction, and a continuousmovement to said gear in the opposite direction, and manually operablemeans for actuating said shift-able member to drive the transmissiongear in either direction and reverse the-movement of the follower.

10. The combination with a manure spreader provided with a distributingcylinder, of a hopper adapted to be removably mounted upon the body ofthe spreader, endless chains mounted upon the side walls of said hopper,a follower secured to the upper stretchesof said chains, gearing drivenfrom the rear wheel axle of the spreader to operate said chains, saidgearing including a power transmission gear, a shiftable plate, a drivengear rotatably mounted upon said plate to engage the lIIttllSlIllSSlOllgear on one side thereof, a spring held pawl to engage the transmissiongear on the opposite side, means actuated by the driven gear forreciprocating said pawl to impart an intermittent rotatlon in onedirection to the transmission gear, a pivotally mounted lever connectedto said shiftable plate to actuate the same, a manually operable levermounted upon the forward end of the hopper, a rod connecting. saidlevers, trip fingers On said rod adjacent its opposite ends adapted tobe engaged by the follower to shift said plate and disengage the drivengear or the pawl from the transmission gear, the operation of saidlatter lever further shifting said plate to engage the, driven gear orthe pawl with said gear and reverse the movement of the follower.

In testimony whereof we hereunto aflix our'signatures in the presence oftwo witnesses.

ASA L. DUDLEY. JOHN J. SCHMIDT. \Vitnesses L. L. BRANDT, \V. L. BRANDT.

